When the winds of adversity blow, how we respond often dictates our course. Do we trust in God to bring us through? Do we see the blessing of being drawn closer to the Lord through adversity? Do we see Him in the storm? Or does the wind distract us and focus our attention onto our problems instead of onto the One who has control of them?

Sometimes life just intensifies and routine things become difficult to do. I had a week where nothing seemed to go right. I felt slow in my response to situations and I really just wanted to run away from all of the pressure and the responsibility that I felt.

One day while I was driving home from work, God used a tiny messenger to give me a big reminder. As I stepped into the car and slammed the door shut, something caught my attention. A tiny object fell down into my field of vision. A yellowish spider, that was more legs then body, hung from a single thread of web as it struggled to climb back onto the frame around the car window.

I am not fond of spiders of any type. It became a game to see if it would blow off of the car at speed. Near the edge of town, I lean forward on the steering wheel and mashed down the gas pedal, faster and faster we went. Its body hanging out in the full force of the wind, with only several legs clasped onto the rain channel around the window, the little guy held on for dear life.

When I stopped for a traffic light, I could almost picture it panting and out of breathe, saying, "Whew that was a close one." As I stepped on the accelerator again, it blew off briefly. Only to crawled back up the web and lodged itself behind the weather-stripping that surround the window. Safely out of the wind, it rode securely up and over the top of the mountain summit to the next stop light.

I had to stop at the post office on the way home. When I stepped out of the car my first instinct was to smash the spider against the window. Something distracted me and I went inside to take care of the business at hand. By the time I came out of the building, I had forgotten about my little hitchhiker.

I stepped into the car and slammed the door. The spider fell down off the frame again.I had another ten miles to travel to get to my house. As I sat and watched that little spider something changed in my heart. God's creation, no matter how small, is intricate and beautiful in its own way. It was a determined little fellow. It held on until there was a more opportune time for it to get out of blast of the wind.

I thought, how often do we do the same thing? A blast of adversity hits us and we cling so tightly to whatever we can grab onto for fear that we will blow away. When all we really have to do is seek the shelter and safety of the One who has promised to "Never leave us nor forsake us." (Hebrews 13:5)

God had given me a great reminder. I didn't have the heart to mash His little messenger. I stepped out of the car and found a small stick. Once the spider was on the stick I set it down on the ground in a no parking area near the curb, so that no one would run it over. As I watched it crawl away, I was thankful that God can redirect our thoughts and our hearts even through the tiniest of examples. He cares about all of His creation. I won't look at spiders in the same way again. Praise the Lord for His wonderful works!

Words to Live By:
"How precious is your unfailing love? Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings." Psalm 36:7 NIV

"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in You my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of Your wings until the disaster has passed." Psalm 57:1 NIV

"Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings." Psalm 63:7